Lansing — Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has filed a defamation lawsuit against the Lakeshore Leaders Fund, a political action committee (PAC), and several individuals, accusing them of spreading false claims about her handling of a murder case during her bid for Michigan attorney general. The lawsuit, filed in Ingham County Circuit Court on February 4, alleges that the PAC was funded by a political rival of McDonald’s to launch a smear campaign targeting her campaign.

The Smear Campaign and Financial Claims

According to the lawsuit, the Lakeshore Leaders Fund had only $165.33 in its account as of January 2026 when it received a sudden influx of money from a political rival. This funding, the lawsuit claims, was used to pay for a campaign that included text messages, mailers, and content on a now-defunct website, www.whoiskarenmcdonald.com, and social media platforms.

The materials distributed by the PAC claimed that McDonald had received over $80,000 in donations connected to the review of a murder conviction. The lawsuit asserts that these statements were false and that the PAC had no legitimate basis for making them.

The materials included a photo of a May 23, 2023, Detroit News story, in which the widow of a murder victim, Genniver Jameel, raised concerns about donations made to McDonald while she was considering whether to ask a judge to vacate the first-degree murder conviction of the defendant, Hayes Bacall.

Legal Resolution and Reactions

A stipulated judgment was entered on Tuesday, in which the defendants agreed that the information they disseminated was defamatory and agreed to pay $7,500 in damages. McDonald’s attorney, Ethan Holtz, stated that the defendants had admitted liability and agreed to an injunction to stop the spread of false information.

“We have traced both the false statements and the funding behind them directly to a campaign treasurer and paid consultant working for her political opponent Eli Savit. Anyone who publishes lies should expect to be held accountable in court,” Holtz said in a statement.

Savit’s campaign manager, Christy Jensen, denied his direct involvement and stated that a campaign member had been fired over the incident. She said the campaign was focused on issues, not attacking fellow Democrats, and that they had not approved or funded the mailer.

“Upon learning on February 6 that an individual associated with the campaign was involved in the mailer’s creation, that individual was immediately removed from the campaign,” Jensen said in a statement.

Savit reportedly called McDonald to “mend fences” and refocus the campaign on the issues, but McDonald chose to file the lawsuit and subpoena multiple individuals, including a 23-year-old law student.

“We believe it is inappropriate for one of the most powerful and well-connected attorneys in the state to train legal firepower on young people for engaging in political criticism,” Jensen said. “The mailer’s basic implication—that a convicted murderer’s family members donated thousands of dollars to McDonald’s campaign ‘in connection’ with her office’s review of a murder conviction—is run-of-the-mill political speech.”

Broader Context and Legal Precedent

Jensen compared the criticism of McDonald to the allegations made against the Trump administration for accepting a $1 million contribution to the MAGA PAC from Ambassador Bridge owner Matthew Moroun before Trump threatened to block the opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge.

“It is difficult to see how the critiques leveled against Prosecutor McDonald are any different,” Jensen said.

Holtz countered that Savit’s statement was notable for what it said and what it did not. “He does not mention that the person behind this is Mr. Savit’s former student, was paid by Mr. Savit’s PAC, was the treasurer of his Attorney General Campaign and remains the treasurer of his PAC and his prosecutor campaign,” Holtz said. “Instead of condemning the false accusations against Prosecutor McDonald, he attacks her for defending herself.”

Attempts to reach the Lakeshore Leaders Fund were unsuccessful. The PAC’s treasurer, Michael Fernandez, a co-defendant in the lawsuit, did not return calls for comment. Yasine Barrouche, the law student referenced by Savit’s campaign manager, could not be reached for comment.

Savit and McDonald are vying for the Democratic nomination for attorney general at a state party’s April 19 convention in Detroit.

Controversy Over the Murder Case

The feud between McDonald and Savit is the latest development in a contentious, 12-year-old murder case involving Hayes Bacall, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2010 for fatally shooting his nephew, Saif Jameel, in a Troy gas station.

In 2022, two witnesses who had testified against Bacall—his younger brother Samir Bacall and a friend of the victim, Slieman Bashi—recanted their testimony. This led to a motion by Bacall’s defense attorney to vacate the first-degree murder conviction and reclassify the charge to second-degree murder.

In 2023, Genniver Jameel, the victim’s widow, raised questions about donations made by members of the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce and the victim’s relatives to McDonald’s campaign while she considered lowering the charges against Bacall. McDonald denied being influenced by the donations.

Jameel and her attorney continue to question how McDonald’s office handled the case, though McDonald, her staff, and her attorney insist there has been no wrongdoing.

“Throughout my career, I have dedicated myself to protecting families and children, advocating for victims, and serving with integrity as both a prosecutor and a judge,” McDonald said in a statement. “The prosecutors in my office will continue to pursue justice for victims and their families with the full force of this office behind them, and I will continue to carry out my duties with the integrity and professionalism that the people of this community have always deserved.”

In her lawsuit, McDonald accused the Lakeshore Leaders Fund and its treasurer, Fernandez, of mischaracterizing information from the Detroit News story to disparage her after she announced her candidacy for Michigan attorney general in June 2025.

“Just before the publishing of the Texts, Website and Mailer, the PAC received an influx of monies to pay (for the material),” the lawsuit said. “It is believed the impetus for (the smear job) was to influence the campaign for Attorney General, with the specific intent of damaging Ms. McDonald’s reputation.”

According to the lawsuit, the Lakeshore Leaders Fund PAC only had $165.33 in its coffers as of January 2026, which it claimed would not have been sufficient to fund the statewide smear campaign.